Portland’s Leonard was eager to make a good first impression. The 11th pick in 2012 received only sporadic minutes last season, and a shoulder injury sidelined him for the first two games in Sin City. No wonder the always energetic 7-footer looked a little extra amped for his debut against Atlanta last Tuesday.

While getting ready to jump for the opening tip, Leonard accidentally hit the referee in the face (lightly), causing a slight delay as everyone reset their positions. Guess what happened next? On Portland’s first defensive possession, Leonard was immediately whistled for two fouls within seven seconds. Leonard finished with a game-high seven fouls (players don’t foul out in Summer League); no one else was called for more than three.

McCollum averaged 20.2 points in five games in Las Vegas, down slightly from the 21.0 he averaged last year. But the second-year guard was far more comfortable and efficient as he shot 47.9 percent from the field after shooting 36.6 in 2013.

“I thought it was a good experience,” McCollum said after the Blazers’ finale, a loss to Atlanta on Friday. “Definitely good to get back out here and compete at a high level, good to get some good game experience and some consistent minutes, 30-plus minutes or whatever it was.”

Portland (54-28)Pace: 97.5 (10), OffRtg: 108.3 (5), DefRtg: 104.7 (16), NetRtg: +3.5 (8)Key addition(s): Potential for sleeping on the benchKey question: How do they get better defensively?
The Blazers were a below-average defensive team in the regular season and got smoked by the Rockets and Spurs in the playoffs. The additions of Steve Blake and Chris Kaman don’t exactly move the needle on that end of the floor, especially in regard to forcing turnovers, where this team ranked dead last in 2013-14

Nicolas Batum is apparently already starting training for the French national team’s participation in the Basketball World Cup in Spain beginning in late August, according to his Instagram.

Erik Gundersen

Erik Gundersen is the Trail Blazers beat reporter for The Columbian. He's a graduate of the Allen School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon in addition earning a degree in Spanish. He's covered the NBA for four seasons. You can also occasionally find his work on ESPN.com's NBA section for their TrueCities series. He also fist-bumped with Kanye West once. Follow @BlazerBanter on twitter for more Blazers and NBA news.